It’s been a busy season for the Dawson 4-H Beef Club. Here’s a look at the group’s meetings:
Meeting 1
Our first meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm on May 15th, 2023, at Jenson’s. We began by reciting the 4-H pledge and then we went around and introduced ourselves. Following this, we did an activity with Skittles with each colour having a different question to answer. Our roll call was “Tell all about your show animal”. Ava Hartnell was elected as president; Kylynn Anderson was elected as vice-president and the roles of secretary and press reporter would be split amongst the rest of the club.
Meeting 2
Our second meeting was called to order at 6:00 pm on May 30th, 2023, at Hartnell’s house. We recited the 4-H pledge. Our roll call was where we talked about why it’s important to understand cattle behaviour, name one thing a good cattle handler does when working with cattle and name one piece of personal protective equipment that a beef farmer should wear. We went over our long-term goals for our project animal. We read our meeting content. Closer to the end of the meeting we did an activity where we put Vaseline on glasses and tried to see the word on the board to give us an idea of how cattle see, and we also practiced our slip knots.
Meeting 3
Our third meeting was to order at 6:25 pm on July 11th, 2023, at Gerula’s house. We recited the 4-H pledge and went over the roll call’s which were A) “What is on record that should be kept on a beef farm?”, B) “Name one good reason good records keeping is important.”, C) “Name one good reason settlers would want to raise beef cattle in Canada.”. We then reviewed Record Keeping & History of the beef Industry in Canada. We went over how to fill out our Feed & Growth Record Charts. All members then went outside and participated in a safety knot tying game outside.
Meeting 4
Our fourth meeting was called to order at 9 am on July 16th, 2023, at Miller’s farm. We started the morning by reciting the 4-H pledge. All members brought their 4-H project animal with them. We practiced leading and working with our animals to prepare for the fair. Leaders went over different things the judges may ask them (ex. what is your project animal’s birthdate?), what to do if the judge touches your animal and how to set up your project animal correctly. We also talked about bathing, clipping the animals, and having proper show equipment. Everyone took turns weighing their animals. After we were done working with the animals, they were all tied back up in the barn while we had lunch.
